Shepherd's Crook is Coming Along

Had a chance to paint Little Bo Peep's crook today after I bought the acrylic paint yesterday at the craft store, 2 for $1. I wasn't sure which color brown I wanted, so I bought these two: brown and espresso.

I settled on the Espresso and got started. It matched the color of her hair better. As I painted it, the smell of the paint reminded me of when I used to paint in grammar school, and that was a pleasant memory.

It went on relatively smooth, but it didn't cover extremely well. I know I will wind up giving it two or three coats before I'm done. And I forgot to look at the paint carefully when I was in the store to see if it was glossy or matte. Of course, it doesn't say, so I'll have to wait and find out after it dries.

I painted it on wax paper, but after I started I thought of a better way to paint it. I have a pencil holder, and I could have gotten it painted all over by standing it up in the pencil holder and painting it instead of lying it flat. But it's too late now. Maybe when the other side dries I'll try it that way.

I like how the color turned out, though it is blotching in places, which is what I suspected.

The Shepherd's Crook

I was pretty busy this weekend with promoting my new website so I didn't get to make the shepherd's crook for Bo Peep until Monday evening. Here's the clay I used:

My wife had bought it for me as a present for my birthday. I won't tell you how long ago that was, but I knew one day I would use it. Originally I wanted to try and sculpt my own dolls with it, but the shepherd's crook was the first project I used it for. Perhaps because it had been sitting for awhile it was stiff to work with at first. I found that I didn't need a very large piece to roll out thin enough for a staff. Once I kneaded it a bit, it became easier to work with and I was able to easily shape it into a crook. It was rather limp, so I wasn't sure if it was going need some extra support inside. I put it in the oven on a round tray (which was too small for it and I hoped it wouldn't wilt as a result - it didn't).

I'm not sure what it smelled like as I baked it because I baked a tuna casserole and I'm sure one smell overpowered the other. I also thought it would change colors after baking but it didn't. It felt firm after I took it out of the oven and put it aside to cool. Here it is all cooled off. Now I have to get some brown acrylic paint to paint it. The surface of the crook is bumpy, and I wanted it that way, as though the crook were made of a piece of natural wood.

Now the trick will be attaching it to her hand. I know I want to use glue, but I'm not sure about how to hold it in the position I want it in until the glue dries. Plus I don't want globs of glue dripping down her hand on her dress. I suppose I could put fabric over her dress to protect it.

I had thought about using a stick pin to hold the crook in position in her hand while the glue sets; we'll see if that turns out to be a good idea.

Little Bo Peep 1

Here she is, my Little Bo Peep coffee can doll!

I think she came out really nice.

It took me a little while longer to finish her, partly because the local craft store didn't have any air freshener dolls at all and I had to order it online. Then I decided I wanted to add pearls to her dress, but was having trouble finding the size pearls I wanted. I finally did:

Now I am working on her lamb, as you can see:

Over the weekend I plan on making a shepherd's crook out of clay for her, since I can't seem to find any that are the right size online or anywhere else. Probably would have an easier time of it at Christmas, with all the creches and shepherds around, but I don't want to wait that long. I'll just experiment with making my own this weekend.